"Come on!" Daryl says and we run out the tombs and outside.
The others join us as we approach the entrance to the fields. I frown when I see a convoy of vehicles and a tank. Oh, fucking fantastic!
"Rick, Guinevere! Come down here!" The Governor. "We need to talk"
"Holy shit! No fucking way!" I snap.
"It's not up to me. There's a council now. They run this place." Rick shuts
"Is Hershel on the council?" The Governor call back. Hershel is pulled out of a car. I cover my mouth in horror, oh God, no! "What about Michonne? She on the council, too?" He continues and Michonne is pulled out next. Both are forced onto their knees.
"I don't make decisions anymore." Rick shouts
You're making the decisions today, Rick. You and Guinevere. Come down here. Let's... Let's have that talk." The Governor shouts.
"That is it! This fucker has gone too far." I seethe.
Maggie grips my arm tightly "Wait, no!"
"Maggie, I have to, he's got your dad, he's got Michonne." I tell her.
I turn to Daryl who's shaking his head "No, you stay by my side!"
I stroke his face gently "It'll be okay." He kisses me.
I pull away and turn to Nessa and Andy. They both nod "Go" Ness says.
Rick and I nod to each other then head down. I tie my hair up as I go. Last thing I need is for shit to go down bad and my hair to blind me.
"Let 'em go right now. I'll stay down here. Talk as long as you want. But you let 'em go. You got a tank. You don't need hostages." Rick says as we approach the fence
"I do. This is just to show you I'm serious. Not to blast a hole in our new home. You and your people, you have till sundown to get out of here or they die." The Governor states
I scoff "Excuse me? Your home?"
"Doesn't have to go down this way." Rick says
"I got more people, more firepower. We need this prison. There it is. It's not about the past. It's about right now." The Governor says
"There are children here. Some of them are sick. They won't survive." Rick pleads
"I have a tank. And I'm letting you walk away from here. What else is there to talk about?" The Governor says with a sick smirk.
"Forcing us out of our home. That is very you isn't it? You couldn't just leave us alone" I say to the Governor as calmly as I can. I look around at the people he's with "Are you honestly going to tell me that every one of you is on board with killing innocent children?" I point to the Governor "Because of his vendetta?"
"Now Gwen" The Governor says
"It's Guinevere to you!" I snap
He smiles "You can stay, I've told you this before. You are always welcome with my people"
I cringe "I'll pass"
"I could shoot you all. You'd all shoot back. I know that. But we'll win and you'll be dead. All of you." The Governor says
"Doesn't have to be like that." Rick says
"Like I said, it's your choice." The Governor says
I hear growling and look over to see two walkers advancing on the prison. The Governor takes out his gun and shoots both walkers. "Noise will only draw more of them over. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for you to get out of here. You got maybe about an hour of sunlight left. I suggest you start packing. The longer you wait, the harder it's gonna be for you to get out of here."
"We can all, we can all live together. There's enough room for all of us." Rick says and I look at him shocked
"More than enough but I don't think my family would sleep well knowing that you were under the same roof." The Governor replies
"We'd live in different cell blocks. We'd never have to see each other till we're all ready." Rick says desperately
"It could work. You know it could" Hershel says
"It could've. But it can't. Not after Woodbury. Not after Andrea." The Governor says and my hand twitches towards my gun. That bastard!
"Look, I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. Fact is, it's gonna be a hell of a lot harder than standing here shooting at each other. But I don't think we have a choice." Rick says
The Governor shakes his head "We don't. You do."
"We're not leaving. You try and force us, we will fight back" I tell him firmly
"Like you said, the gunshots will just bring more of them out. They'll take down the fences. Without the fences, this place is worthless. Now, we can all live in the prison or none of us can." Rick says
The Governor jumps down from the tank and grabs Michonne's sword. He storms over to Hershel and holds it to his neck muttering "We'll fix the damn fences."
"No!" I unintentionally scream and put my hands up. My anxiety levels and their peaks my body rigid "Please, leave him"
Rick points to a girl I have noticed has been looking torn about all this "You. You in the ponytails. Is this what you want? Is this what any of you want?"
"What we want is what you got. Period. Time for you to leave, asshole." The random in the tank says
"Look, I fought him before. And after, we took in his old friends. They've become leaders in what we have here. Now you put down your weapons, walk through those gates... you're one of us. We let go of all of it, and nobody dies. Everyone who's alive right now. Everyone who's made it this far. We've all done the worst kinds of things just to stay alive. But we can still come back. We're not too far gone. We get to come back. I know... we all can change." Rick says passionately. I look at him with a smile of approval
The Governor has taken the sword away from Hershel's neck and is silent "Liar."
Suddenly, the sword slices Hershel's neck. My screams sound through the suddenly silent field. Rick grabs my shirt and pulls me away as he shoots. The other side start shooting too. A bullet embeds in my arm as Rick and I dive behind the bus. I scream in pain and hold my arm.
"Are you okay?" Rick asks
I nod through my tears "I'm gonna kill that fucker once and for all!" I say angrily.
I peek over the fence "Fuck! Rick, they're breaking through the fence!"
The gunfire is relentless. The cars tear up our field, knocking down graves, destroying the farm… destroying everything I worked so hard to build.
"Gwen, get back up to the prison, go now!" Rick shouts over the noise
"No! It's too late!" I tell him.
Suddenly, Rick is gone from my side. I look over to see him tackling the Governor to the ground. I move forward to help him when bullets hits where my body was about to go. I throw myself back and start shooting at my attacker. It takes a while but I finally get the fucker. I run around the bus and tackle the Governor off of Rick.
I start pounding the living daylights out of him "You horrible little fucker! You asshole! Murderer!" I scream with every punch.
Suddenly the Governor's got me on my back and his hands are around my throat. He presses down hard as I fight for breath. I scratch and hit him but he won't let go. Just as the world was turning black, a sword plunges through his chest and he falls off of me. I sit up coughing.
"Michonne" I say through coughs. I roll onto my side and help a beat to shit Rick to his feet.
"Carl, where's Carl!" Rick asks
"I don't know" Michonne replies.
"Daryl!" I exclaim and look up at the destroyed prison. Fresh tears sting my eyes "Ness! Andy!"
I wrap my arm around Rick's back as we struggle up to the prison together. Rick keeps losing his feet and taking me with him. My arm is throbbing. My vision still hazy. "Carl! Carl!" Rick cries over and over.
"Andy! Nessa!" I call "Daryl!" I scream. Nothing.
Walkers walk towards us, I can't reach my gun, Rick's hip is pressed into it. Two loud shots bring them down and Carl appears as they fall. I sigh in relief and Rick staggers forward and hug him. I join the hug.
"Oh Carl!" I sob into his neck.
Rick pulls back "Judith? Where is she?"
Carl shakes his head "I don't know"
My heart feels like it's been torn from my chest "No! Judith"
I see her baby seat and run over to it. It's empty and covered in blood. The tears build until I'm screaming "No! Judith!"
Shots ring through the air forcing me to look up. Carl is shooting air at a walker at this point. Sobbing his heart out. "Gwen, we've got to go" Rick says.
I nod and place a lingering kiss to the baby seat before running over and helping Carl with his dad. Everything is gone, everyone is gone! Daryl, Nessa, Andy. Maggie, Glenn, Beth. Sasha, Bob, Tyreese. The kids, everyone! Gone! Dead for all I know.
